The Seal of Approval
by KathrynElaineDonahue
Summary: That moment when you desperately need someone to comfort you in a serious situation.


**A/N: This is for Round 5 of the QLFC! I'm Beater 2 for the Wimbourne Wasps and we chose the box, HOGWARTS.**

 **I chose to write the pairing, Minerva/Albus, for this round and the prompts I used are listed below:**

 **#6: (word) Piano  
#14: (color) Cherry**

 **The Seal of Approval**

 _Word Count: 1,340_

Minerva stared at the broken, cherry-colored seal that had once coated the damp parchment. That seal had once kept the letter's contents safe, but now, the harsh reality the words written within were unleashed into the busy mind that belonged to Minerva McGonagall. Dougal McGregor had passed.

Minerva couldn't see anything except for the miserable shade of red. The longer she stared at the seal, the more blurry her sight got. She didn't even know she had been crying until she glanced at the parchment to better understand what it said, and noticed that all of the words had become black water smears.

"What a fine day this turned out to be," she whispered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and putting away the letter from her mother.

Minerva was glad that all of her classes were over and done with for the day. She knew that she couldn't teach a Transfiguration class in the state she was in. She stood up from her desk, which conveniently stood next to her bed. She pointed her wand at the record player, and listened to the smooth piano music that flittered through the room. It only soothed her momentarily, until her eyes landed on the familiar maroon chest that seemed to dim that area of the room.

Minerva walked to it slowly, and lifted her wand to unlock the chest. Letters that she had received from Dougal over the years spilled out. They were letters that had gone unanswered for years, letters she had never intended to reply to. She had kept them because he enjoyed the reminder that he still loved her, but she had locked them away to keep from always feeling the pain that came with being unable to reciprocate his feelings. She couldn't bear to do what her mother had done to her father. She couldn't do that to herself or to Dougal.

Now, hundreds of letters littered her floor, steadily being joined by hundreds of tears. She nearly fell to the floor in complete depression until she heard a loud knock at her door. She sniffed and swept her wand around the room to clean up the mess. After almost tripping on the leg of her davenport, she opened the door to find Albus Dumbledore standing casually outside her door.

"What can I do for you, professor?" Minerva questioned, straightening her robe and wiping a few stray tears away.

"I was having a feeling. Could I talk to you for a moment?" Albus asked, moving his hands in a request to be invited.

"Y-yes, what about?" she asked, allowing him to step into her room which was slightly larger than the rooms of any of the other professors' that lived on campus.

"I have the feeling that you're a tad upset. Anything I could help with?" he wondered.

"What gave you that idea?"

"I could hear the calming piano music as was passing and I thought I should probably see how you were holding up. Is it the stress of being a professor? I know that when I started I was-"

Minerva cut him off.

"No, no. It's nothing like that." She waved it off.

"Then what is it?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Minerva didn't know if she was going to be strong enough to relay the events of the previous minutes. She found that it might have been better for her mother's letter to explain the unfortunateness of her entire life. She handed the letter to him, hoping that he could read the words that had been smudged from her earlier tears, and dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief she kept in the pocket of her emerald robes. Albus eyed her carefully as she blew her nose, and went back to the deciphering of the text.

He folded the letter back up, and handed it carefully to Minerva as well as giving her an extra handkerchief. It appeared that hers was completely soaked.

"Ah, love," he stated. This made her cry even more.

"I was infatuated, professor. We were to be married," she said, walking over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"What stood in the way of that?" he questioned, sitting next to her.

"He was a muggle, professor. I'm not prejudiced at all; I mean, my father was a muggle, for Merlin's sake! I just couldn't do what my mother did. I couldn't lie to him about who I really am."

"You mean, he never knew you were a witch?" Albus asked.

"I would have lost my job at the Ministry if I had."

"So, you chose magic," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Over love." she nodded, staring at him with tears in her eyes.

Even though Albus Dumbledore was older than her by quite a bit, he didn't appear to look too much older than the beautiful brunette that he was attempting to console. After all, she had just lost someone that she'd always loved. He didn't have too much experience in this area but he had always favored her. He glanced around her bedroom for anything that might cheer her up and that's when he saw it. There were a couple of daisies that were sitting in a pot full of soil and he had the best idea.

"Minerva…" he whispered, lifting her chin up as he pointed to the pot.

He waved his wand, muttering a spell, and made it so that the daisies swayed to the piano music. This gained a small giggle from Minerva as she watched them move to the tune. Albus went to turn around so that he could see that smile of hers that he adored, but he hadn't realized just how close he had been to her. His nose was only a breath away and he was looking directly into her eyes. Those eyes, a dark shade, seemed to become lighter as she stared back. There was no hesitation. He leaned in and closed the gap between them. It was short, it was sweet, and it was spontaneous. When he pulled away from her, her eyes were still closed and her lips were still puckered. However, after a few seconds, her eyes popped open and she just stared at him in disbelief. He cleared his throat and she pushed several pieces of her dark curly hair behind her ears. She stood up quickly and tried to fix herself.

"I'm, uh, feeling much better," she said, rubbing out the creases in her robes.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you have pulled yourself out of your depressed state so quickly," he answered as he tried to compose himself just as Minerva was doing, the words coming out far too rushed for his liking.

"I've never lingered on a particular emotion, professor. You know that," she said with a smile that let him see none of what she would be thinking.

"Then, I shall leave you. I hope you have a pleasant evening, Minerva." he bowed his head in her direction, leaving her room at a fast pace.

He didn't walk away from the door as fast as he should have. He was curious to see if she would break down after he had left her, but she didn't. The piano music ceased and he could hear the faint sound of a quill on parchment. She was, without a doubt, penning a letter to her mother. What he couldn't hear or see was the small smile that had formed on her face and the rosy tint that had returned to her cheeks. A small smile appeared on his lips as he moved away from the door, he might have acted impulsively, but at the very least he had been able to lighten her mood.

Inside her room, Minerva traced her tingling lips with the pad of her fingers, and she found herself thinking of other things than the letter she should have been focusing on. He had certainly cheered her up with his seal of approval.


End file.
